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WP4 - Light Waves
WP4 - Light Waves
LIGHT
REFLECTION OF LIGHT
Reflection is the bouncing back of light when it falls on an object.
When light falls on an object like a book, it bounces in all directions because the surface is a bit
rough. This is called Diffuse or Irregular Reflection.
When the surface is very smooth, like polished metal surface, light bounces in a regular manner.
This is called Regular Reflection.
Laws of Reflection
The angle of incidence, i and the angle reflection, r are equal.
The incident ray, reflected ray and the normal all, lie in the same plane.
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Procedure:
5. With the eye in a suitable position, place two pins in front of the mirror such that they
are in line with image I of the object O seen in the mirror [These pins should be place
as far apart as possible to improve accuracy]. Mark the positions of the pins P and Q
and draw a straight line PQ through their positions.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 for pins R and S and line RS.
7. Remove the mirror and pins from the pin board. Extend lines PQ and RS beyond
MM’ until they intersect.
8. The image is formed at the intersection of PQ and RS.
A convex mirror makes a parallel beam of light to diverge (spread out) and appear to come
from the principal focus of the mirror. Image formed by convex mirror is smaller and upright.
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REFRACTION OF LIGHT
Refraction of light is the bending of light as it travels from one medium to another.
[N.B. Even though the light bends it always travels in a straight line.] ,
When a light ray travels from an optically less dense medium to an optically denser medium, the
rays are bent or refracted towards the normal ( i > r ).
When a light ray travels from an optically denser medium to an optically less dense medium, the
rays are bent or refracted away from the normal ( i < r ).
If the light ray passes through a glass block which has parallel sides, the emerging ray will be
parallel to the ray entering the glass block as seen in diagram below.
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Example 1: Speed of light in air is 3.0 x 108 m/s and in glass speed of light is 2.0 x 108 m/s
= 1.5.
Snell’s Law
Refractive index can be calculated using the angle of incidence i and the angle of refraction r.
The refractive index is given by
Solution
Sin r = 0.3774
r = Sin-1(0.3774) r = 22.2º
The incidence angle for which the angle of refraction is 90º is called the critical angle(c). It only
occurs when light travels from a denser medium to a less dense medium. The critical angle is a
constant for any given material, e.g. Water-49 º, Diamond-24 º, Glass-42 º.
If the incidence angle exceeds the critical angle for any material then Total Internal Reflection
takes place.
If i > c then total internal reflection takes place. See diagram below
c = Sin-1(0.667)
c = 42º
Light can be trapped by total internal reflection inside the optic fibre. The light rays meet the
sides of the rod at an angle greater than the critical angle of the glass. The light rays are then
totally internally reflected inside the glass rod.
Surgeons use a device called an endoscope to examine the inside of patients’ bodies. This is
made of bundles of fibre optics.
Optical fibres can also carry telephone calls. In industry they are used to examine hidden parts.
Security personnel use fibre optics to view inside rooms were hostages are held.
Reflecting Prisms
Glass prisms are used to change the direction of light rays through total internal reflection.
In periscopes, 45o prisms are used instead of plane mirrors.
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In car or bicycle rear reflectors, the direction of the incoming light can be reversed by two total
internal reflections.
Mirages
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Mi
rages are common in hot deserts or even in a hot day in a tarred road. A traveler often sees a pool
of water ahead of him/her which is an optical illusion.
Mirages are caused by the progressive and continuous refraction of light as it passes into warmer
layers of air of changing refractive index.
The rays of light eventually become parallel to the ground, and then proceed to bend upwards as
a result of total internal reflection.
To the observer the rays of light appear to come from the road. This creates an image of the sky
on the road which looks like a pool of water.
LENSES
Lenses refract light and form images. There are two main types of lenses: The Convex
(converging) lens and Concave (diverging) lens.
Principal Axis: A path followed by a light ray as it passes through the centre of the lens and is
Perpendicular to the lens.
Principal focus (F): A point on the principal axis at which all the rays seem to converge after
Passing through the lens.
Optical Centre(c): The geometric centre of a lens.
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Focal length (f): Length between the optical centre and the principal focus. This is a constant for
Any given lens.
2. A ray parallel to the principal axis passes through F after leaving the lens.
NB: All rays begin from the top of the object and the bending takes place at the line passing
through the middle of the lens.
Object beyond 2F
The image is
Inverted
Real
Smaller than the object
Formed between F and 2F.
The image is
Real
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Object at 2F
The image is
Inverted
Real
Same size as the object
Formed between F and 2F.
The lens is used in this way in various optical instruments to provide an upright image.
The image is
Virtual
Upright
Bigger than the object (Magnified)
formed behind the object
Object at 2F
The image will be formed at infinity, similarly, when the object is at infinity, the image will be
formed at F.
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The camera uses a convex lens to form an image that is real, small, inverted on a piece of film at
the back. The image is formed between F and 2F of the lens. The image is formed on the film.
A slide projector forms a real image on a screen of a slide or a film in a cine-projector. The
image is usually smaller than the real object (slide or frame of film), and is further away from the
lens.
Good illumination of the slide is needed in order for the image to be bright. This is achieved by
focusing the light beam by a concave mirror and two condenser lenses as shown in the diagram
below.
A Photographic Enlarger uses a magnified image of the negative to produce a well magnified
print of a photograph. It works the same way as a slide projector.
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Method 1
Place a lens in front of a screen. Adjust the position of the lens until a sharp image of a distant
object is seen on the screen. The distance between the image lens and the screen gives the focal
length.
Method 2
A more accurate method of finding focal length is by using the expression
Which is known as the lens equation. Where v is image distance and u is object distance.
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Place a candle along a metre rule and place a screen at the other end. Place a lens in between
them and adjust its position until the image of the candle is seen on the screen. Measure and
record u and v, then calculate f using the expression above.
Magnification
Or
Or